Questions for Heschel

I have a question for all the Heschel experts. (That would be Danny and Mike by my count.) The question goes something like this: Is it possible to be a believer, yet at the same time believe that there are mistakes in the interpretation of scripture? In other words, is it possible that the sages got it wrong?

For my example, I’d like to look once more at the Akeidah. Isn’t it possible to believe that Abraham received a divine message, but that the message was limited to the instruction not to kill Isaac. In other words, God never told Abraham to sacrifice his son; he said the opposite. He enjoined Abraham from killing Isaac, and told him instead to sacrifice the ram. Really, what purpose would it have served the almighty to test Abraham by instructing him to commit an act that was merely the social norm at that time, even if it seems so heinous today? If human sacrifice was common before Abraham, why would it have been remarkable for him to agree to perform that practice? And what divinity would have needed to test his messenger by demanding conformance with the norms of the day? How does that serve to select the exceptional person who can carry the divine message forward? This interpretation allows for the possibility of a divine message to the Jews, and merely credits Abraham with first hearing this divine message to cease human sacrifice. Thus it suggests that the text, the Torah, is more than the creation of some writer’s mind; it’s not just historical fiction, as Danny observed.

Now I know that generations of sages have read the Torah completely contrary to this interpretation. And if I’m right, it means that every one of these sages was wrong. But after all, aren’t the sages, as wise as they are, limited by human understanding? And aren’t there countless examples of human understanding failing to grasp the larger truths of how the world worked? All those sages before Einstein were unable to grasp some simple truths about the universe – simple truths that he, one man, Einstein, was able to understand.

So forget for a moment my assumption that the Torah is a text written by humans. Let’s assume that it’s divinely authored, in one form or another. Why are we so sure that it has been correctly understood, when it’s been human beings, who are limited by human understanding, who have been trying for ages to understand this text?

Or, is it simply not possible to pick and choose what makes sense from the Torah? Is one compelled to believe it literally and completely, or in the alternative to reject it altogether? What does Heschel say about these questions?